Metallic railway-tie.



I. A. WIDITER.

METALLIC RAILWAY TIB- APPLICATION FILED In. 2a 1908.

903,252. Patented Nov. 10,1908 f Mum JOHN A. wmusa, OF ALPENA, MICHIGAN.

Mn'raLmc RAILWAY-rm.

Application flied March 26,

Specification of Letters Patent.

1908. Serial No. 423,424.

Patented "Nov. 10, 1908.

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that 1, JOHN A. Wmnamfa citizen of the United States, residing at Alpena, in the county of Alpena and State of Michi an, have invented new and useful Metallic ailway-Ties, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to metallic railway ties and its object isto provide an all-metal tie consisting of two movably connected members,-one of said members being centrally su ported andbeingdisposed to yield and pointed out in .when an jected to the weight of a car sons to constitute a cushion.

A further object is to provide atie of this character having auxiliary cushioning means interposed between the members thereof.

With these and other objects in view the invention consists of certain novel features of construction and combinations of parts which will be hereinafter more fully described the claims.

In the accompanyin drawings is shown the preferred form of t re invention.

In said drawings: Figure 1 is a side elev a in accordance with the present invention, one end portion of the cushioning member of the tie being broken because they awa Fig. 2 is an enlarged section on line A- Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a view showin in side e evation and in bottom plan the mir dle portions of the base and cushioning members I res ectively of the tie.

Ietallic railway ties as heretofore con-' .structed have generally been objectionable have not usually been capable of roducing the desired cushioning effect wit out the use of springs, wood, or other similar devices of an unreliable nature. The present invention, however, overcomes all such defects incident to metallic ties and consists of a base member A consisting of an upstanding lon itudinal web 1, oppositely extending base anges 2, and oppositely extending top flan es 3. These flanges 3 are parallel with the base flanges 1 for the greater 5 art of their lengths but at the center of the use A the top flanges are curved downwardly to form recesses 4 at opposite sides 5 of the web 1 as-clearly indicated in Fig. 3.

The member A may be rolled or otherwise formed from suitable metal and it is designed to make it of the same length as the ordinary railway tic.

The upper or cushioning member of the tie has been indicated at B and consists of'an the web ion blocks 14 of.wood

upstanding longitudinal web 5 having oppositely extending top flanges 6 and.oppos1tely extendin base flan es 7. That portion of ibcated at t 6 center of the member B is extended downwardly below the planes occupied by the flan es 7 so as to constitute a rocker 8 which is t Fig. 2 and .providcd with a longitudinal slot 9 to receive that portion of web 1 located between the recesses 4. The rocker 8 beats within the two recesses 4 and constantly contacts with the bottoms of the recesses.

ickened as indicated in In order that the members A and B may be held against separation a rivetor other connecting device 10 is extended through registering openings 11 within the web 1, and the rocker 8 as indicated 'in Fig. 2. portions of the flange 7 formed upon the rocker S are extended downwardly as indicated at 12 so as to la thecurved portions of the flanges 3 and tl ius prevent dirt, etc. from working into the recesses 4.

As clearly indicated in Fig. 1 .the lower face of the member B is inclined upwardly toward the ends of said member from the rocker 8, the inclination being such that the member B can be rocked so as to bring either inclined portion of the bottom thereof flat upon the adjoining portion of. the member A. Sockets 13 are formed in the upper face of member A' and below the end portions of the member B and constitute seats for cushor other suitable mas terial. These blocks are normally spaced from the member B.

Arranged upon each end portion of the member B are means for fastening'a rail thereto. These fastening means constitute the subject matter of a co-pending ap )lication -filcd on March 26, 1908, Seria No. As shown in the drawings each of these fasteners consists of a late 15 havin jaws 16' and 17 at the ends tfiereof and eac plate is designed to be inserted through a slot 1.8 in one of the flanges 6 and then shifted so that the jaw 16 'will lap flanges of a rail 19 while 'aw 17 will 'engai e the lower surface of the. ange 6. ,--.A note .20 is formed in the longitudinal edge of plate 15 and is designed to register with any one of a series of notches Zlfiformed in one edge of a tapered key 22 designed to be driven into slot after plate 16 has in. After this key has been forced into the slot a rivet 23 or other fastening device is socured within the registering notdhea 20 and one of the base Those been positi ned there- I 'It will be seen that the rocker 8 bears dimember A. Of course, with this arrange- .rock thereon, rail enga f and rai ti'ons of 5. A metallic railway tie comprising a -relativel IT a mi engaging cushioning member-having an integral rocker movably'mounted'within the cushioning member 1:

21 so as to prevent the key 22 from being lifted out of the slot and freeing the plate 16. As shown at the left of Fi. 1 one of these fastening devices can be p aced in engagement with each base flange of the rail but if preferred, and as shown at the right of Fig. 1, the outer base flange of each rail can be engaged by a fixed jaw 24 secured to. or formed with the up or surface of the member B. In order that t e rails 19 may be further cushioned, blocks 25 of wood or other suitable material are seated within recesses 26 in the upper face of member B and the rails are desi nod to rest upon these blocks, as shown.

hen the car is assing-over the rails which are fastened to the tie the upper member B of the tie will bend downward at its ends I ably until stopped by coming into contact with the cushions 14.' By mounting the members A and B so that they have relative movement the elasticity of the tie is greatly increased.

rectly upon the bottoms of the recesses 4 and therefore the pin or rivet 10 receives no strain whatever but merely acts to hold the parts together.

- It is of course to be understood that the rail fasteners herein described can be used in connection with anyform of tie having lat eral flanges and, if desired, the upper member B can be dispensed with and said fasteners placed in slots formed in the flanges 3- of ment the tie would lose its resiliency.

I What is claimed is:

1. A metallic railway tie comprising a relatively fixed member, a centrally pivoted and supported cushioning member balancedthereon, and rail engaging devices carried by the end portions of said cushioning member.-

- 2. A metallic railway tie comprising a relatively fixed member, and a centrally ivoted and supported relatively movable cus ioning member mounted thereon.

3. A metallic railway tie comprising a rel-atively fixed member, a centrally pivoted and supported cushioning member mounted to I ing devices upon the .end ortions of the cus iioning member, and auxi iar cushioning devices interposed. between t 1e end portions of the two members.

4. A metallic railway tic comprising a relatively fixed member, a centrally pivoted supported atits center and dis osed to rock upon the fixed member,

l engaging devices upon the end porthe cushioning member.

fixed'member having a recess therein,

recess, and rail engaging devices upon the cushioning member and at opposite sides of the rocker.

6, A metallic railway tie comprising a relatively fixed member having a recess, a rail enga ing cushioning member having an integra central rocker movably mounted within the recess, the end portions of 'saidcushioning member being normally spaced from the fixed member.

7. A metallic railway tie comprising a relatively fixed member having a recess, a cushioning member having a central rocker movmounted within and bearing upon the bottom of the recess, and means for pivotally connecting the rocker to the ,fixed mem- 8. A metallic railway tie comprising a relatively fixed member having a recess, a cushioning member having a centrally located rocker movably mounted within and bearing upon the bottom of the recess, means for pivotally connecting the fixed member and the rocker, and rail engaging devices upon the cushioning member at opposite sides of the rocker..

9. A metallic railway tie comprising arelativel y fixed member, a rail engaging cushioning member bearing thereon at its center and having its lower face inclined toward its ends away from the fixed member, said cushioning member being mounted to rock relative to the fixed member, and rail en a ing devices carried'by the end portions o the cushioning member. 4

10. A metallic railway tie comprising a relatively fixed member, a centrally support ed cushioning member mounted thereon and having its end portions spaced from the fixed member, and auxiliary cushioning devices interposed between the the members. i

i 11. In a metallic railwa tie the combination with a relatively fixed member comprising an upstanding web and to flanges extending laterally therefrom, said flanges being extended downwardly upon opposite faces of the web to form central side recesses; of a cushioning member having a lon itudinally grooved rocker seated within t re recesses and straddling the web, said cushioning member having itsend Eortions normally spaced from the fixed mem er In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own, I have hereto affixed my signature n the presence of two witnesses.

' JOHN A. WIDNER; Witnesses:

E. W. CADY, Jas. M. WALKER.

spaced portions of 

